Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld

When I said that SAO was best when Kirito wasn't involved, I didn't mean cripple the fucker and keep him as a background character.  Didn't mean for that advice to be taken so extremely.

Story:

Following the fall of the Axiom Church, Kazuto Kirigaya has been put out of commission thanks to a bolt of lightning hitting him during some altercations happening in the facility at the time.  With new invaders taking some partial reigns to the Underworld, war rises as the border between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory begin to crumble and fade.  Thus sparking 'The War of the Underworld'.  

The story of 'War of ... Underworld' is really about side characters and the surrounding battle that serves as the setting.  Thanks to Kazuto being out of commission, the show's screentime is devoted to building up the ins and outs of the Underworld (especially the Dark Territory's side) and setting up the stakes for the arc now that there's an opposing force in the real world that's actively causing mayhem and destroying whatever balance was achieved prior to the intervention.  However that comes with the need to explain and introduce the audience to these things, and that's where I think War of Underworld really starts to stretch itself thin.  So much of the screentime is devoted to giving backstories and little character moments to various knights and members of the Dark Territory.  The end result of that creates a lot of clutter where each facet of the battle is looked at and analyzed, but ultimately doesn't really move the story forward.  There're only around two major events in War of Underworld, both of which sporting multiple perspectives for multiple characters at the same time to get a scope of the entire battle.  It's nice for character development, but the story itself isn't very streamlined.

I also don't think the show...is as smart as it thinks it is.  Alicization is the arc in SAO that asks what the idea of the 'soul' is, now that AI technology has gotten to the point of being autonomous and equal to that of a human.  Part of the reason I liked Alicization was because the Underworld was such an interesting setting given how it's its own society created only by the machinations of its denizens' fluctlights and artificial intelligence, naturally flowing into the series through inference since its existence is hauntingly real despite it being a running simulation.  War of Underworld however really likes to shove that concept down your throat and constantly remind you that these Fluctlights are real people, doing so at such a rapid pace that even characters that've never seen or met these people believe and empathize with their war and their plight.  The ideology is made worse thanks to this arc's antagonist, who manages to be a record holder in the series being made instantly worse as an antagonist over the course of a single episode almost immediately he was introduced into the series.

The end result is a show that's more setup than story.  Given the fact that A-1 split Alicization in half, again, what we're left with are the rising details of the story without so much as reaching any amount of major climax.  Even without that, the story felt like it squandered its potential, even going so far as to reveal some details in the overall scope of the series that would've been great to see, but are things they'll ultimately never talk about.  The first episode of War of Underworld is such a great, somber thing to watch, and I was really hoping we would get more of that kind of emotional tug and yearning, but that kind of stuff just didn't really happen, and I'm all the more sad because of it.

Characters:

Noted as being equal to that of a vegetable, Kazuto Kirigaya (I really hate calling him Kirito) achieves a record low for the series, having not only the least amount of screentime, but also the least amount of speaking lines in all of his appearances throughout the arcs of the series.  I for one am not really against this change of pace, since it allowed the rest of the cast to shine instead of having him be the forefront, and at least let the impact he had in the Human Empire sit and simmer throughout the rest of the cast.  While I don't really like how at some point he will most likely rise up and kick ass again (as well as somehow get four girls to sleep near him without so much as moving a muscle), him taking the backseat let the rest of the cast be interesting and impactful rather than being either background characters or increasing the number of women around him, even though that one happens anyway.

Alice, given that she is the arc's resident female, transitions from being her own character into the series's coveted trophy that everyone fights over, which is not...that bad, somehow.  Ordinarily I despise character transitions like this since it completely slashes away any interesting parts about the character in favor of turning them into the object of affections that everyone involved wants.  It's gross and it feels like a detriment to the character.  Alice however circumvents this problem by still being an active part of the series as a knight in the war with significant screentime and contribution to the overall setup of the story.  While she definitely has less of a punch due to her breakout moment being at the tail end of Alicization, it's nice to have another 'companion' character be on a similar level to Sinon and do things on her own merit rather than because of Kirito, though that still kind of happens anyway.

And then for antagonists, there's Gabriel Miller.  First introduced as the leader of a merc group who's cold, calculating, and manipulative, Miller's character quickly devolves after a quick backstory scene to be nothing more than a psychopath who's obsessed with souls.  I don't get it; you had such a good setup, way better than every other antagonist in this series, and you ruined it.  While his version of crazy is certainly an interesting angle, it all feels hollow, forced, and just made to go along with the tone of the series.  Also I feel like what he's doing is going against his contract but fuck, what do I know?

Aside from MAYBE Asuna since she does end up becoming somewhat relevant towards the end, the rest of the cast fills in the roles on both the sides of the Human Empire, detailing little color stories for the knights and giving time to showcase the races and people of the Dark Territory, even though most of them end up as casualties at the end of the day.  I attribute them more as parts of the setting rather than actual characters, and help flavor up the world before most of them end up being eviscerated or cut down in one sense or another.  

Aesthetics:

Like Alicization, War of the Underworld looks a lot like Ordinal Scale and really goes all out with the particle effects this time.  Due to the nature of fantasy battle, especially one where the swords of the Integrity Knights become various weapons of different styles and attack patterns, the art and animation of War of the Underworld is nothing short of a spectacle that has a lot of visual flair and boom effects.  There's drastically less swordplay since everything's pretty much just explosions, but they're nice explosions at least.  However because of the setting of the story, the colors of the setting lean towards a much darker color scheme as there isn't much brightness in the show, and day is nearly non-existent for the show past episode two.  

On the note of animation, the usage of CG armies comes into play a substantial number of times throughout the series and it becomes very noticeable.  There're even scenes where the same animation loop is repeated several times over in one landscape shot, and copy/pasted over and over again at different intervals.  To A-1's credit, large armies are a nightmare to hand draw, so there's at least an excuse there, though that doesn't detract from how there are scenes where the hordes of goblins and giants are drawn out instead of modeled and pasted in.

I'm sorry to say that having Asuna('s VA) sing the opening is nowhere near as good as having LiSa do one instead.  "Resolution" is without a doubt a good opening and still has the high energy SAO feel that all of their openings have, but compared to Adamas or Resister (much less Crossing Field), there's not enough punch in Resolution for me to put it on the same pedestal. 

But at least we still have LiSa.  "unlasting" is a big departure from the rest of the work that she's done for the series, being a much more somber and yearning song that is pretty on-par with the rest of the EDs for the series.  Its slow start and steady tempo makes for a great closer for each episode, especially since the tone of the series lends itself to boding well to ending on a slower song to close off the episode.  Made even better since numerous episodes have it as the background with the credits off to the side with the show finishing its current section of the story.

Personal Enjoyment:

Despite all of my grievances and complaints about War of Underworld...I still kinda liked it.  There's something about SAO that makes the episodes feel really fast.  While the content sometimes isn't all that good and story beats can be questionable at best, the overall tone and tension of the series was written well enough for me to at least have the desire to know what happens next.  Episodes feel drastically shorter than they actually are, and I don't know why.  Having Kazuto not be at the forefront of the series for once actually felt like a good narrative choice, and having Alice be the 'protagonist' this time served to develop the Underworld more now that things in the world are seemingly changing.  

That being said, the pitfalls of SAO are still ever-present and I really don't like it.  Every antagonist has in some sense been some kind of petty, creepy, and weird psychopath, and Miller is no different.  The story also feels strangely similar to other arcs, boasting a at least mildly interesting concept before shitting itself in the last couple minutes with some asspulls and deus ex machinas to cap off this section of the overall story.  I've been watching this series for like seven years; I'd expect some kind of change to have occurred during that time.

While War of Underworld isn't the worst thing that the series has concocted (looking at you, Fairy Dance), it's comparatively less interesting both in-story and in execution to its Alicization predecessor.  It's that one awkward middle part that doesn't feel great to watch on its own, and the most it does is give series relevance to the expansive cast since the Underworld has an entire other half to it that wasn't given the time of day.  Still, I'm a little disappointment because as much of a spectacle War of Underworld was with its fights, effects, and several choice scenes, the season as a whole doesn't really have anything to it that lets it stand on its own ground.  Made even worse since it seemed like A-1 cut the thing in half, forcing this half of the series to have to stand up on its own.  

Also this season feels like it was meant to be a throwback to the entire story told before it.  Was that intentional?  Because if it was, then where was Mother's Rosario in all that?

I'm not a big fan of SAO, but my friend is and a part of our deal is that if I am to give critic then I have to watch it.

But you may think: You just a SAO hater to be a SAO hater.
No. SAO is filled with plotholes. Big ass plotholes. It is filled with cheap conviniences (bc of the plotholes) and this season is no better. At least I can enjoy we not getting to listen to the annoying OP Kirito this season. Good for that.

To sum up: I didn't expect much going into this and i was not disappointed. It fills ... out the usual SAO standard (Or any Shonen serie standard).

SAO was also one my introduction to anime, but being picky today many years later have given me a new light on this mediocre based series that can't really fulfill anything great.
It got good animation... and that's about it really. The characters is empty most of the time and whole their personality will flip on a coin.
Can you guess the main villain's character? Oh right he is a psychopath like any other villain in SAO. Nothing new under the sun there. Just another boring villain.
Alice is... meh. I know they made her a nearly emotionless character but really? Are we soon over with that monotone ass voice they gave her?
Oh and apparently Asuna should be in this season some more but look at this, we are 8 episodes in and she has like yet to have more than one line of dialouge or something. Honestly by this time she'll properly first be there to the boss battle and like... kill him off for Alice or some shit, bc Convinient plotholes is convinient. I know times goes faster in that universe, but even the villain came faster into the digital world lol
Welcome to the series with Convinient plotholes.
I could go on but honestly we all know that would be way too long.

*Spoilers ahead*

Actually the best season of SAO as of now. Why? Let me tell you why:

Seeing Kirito as a soggy slowly rotting sack of potatoes. 10/10 

Turning down the exhausting harem complex of the series with just the right amount of "Kirito don't you dare to fucking die (sort of)" between the female characters. 

Extremely fun to watch action scenes on a massive, Lord of the Rings or Narnia like scale.  Animation and Sound are on point. The focus truly lies on action and visually and sound wise impactful scenes which is the main reason this season is actually quite good.

Even though it ain't much but its ... honest work: A little bit of backstory for the side characters that take up most of the actual battle time of this season which is great seeing other characters turn up the heat other than Kirito. 

A somewhat good twist in the story line which is minor but cohesively connected to the characters backstory and development. A rare occurrence in SAO but surely a welcome one. That is  when the monster factions characters slowly realize that they are being exploited and turn their differences aside to fight together with the human faction. 

Nothing of significance happens this season, so as a message to other SAO fans out there, skip this one.

The premise of this season follows the defeat of the pontifex from the season prior. Kirito's victory, despite losing people important to him, unfortunately left him in a coma due to some kind of short circuit. So instead of following the legacy of Kirito, the badass who manages to overcome every obstacle in his way, we're forced to follow a relatively new and bland character, Alice. From this alone, it should be easy to predict how good the anime is.

Story 4/10 - The season prior introduces ... a new world of the Underworld in which a war is brewing between light and dark. However, this wasn't Kirito's focus in the previous season. As a viewer, I became disinterested in the war due to its irrelevance and instead focused solely on the overthrowing of the pontifex's tyrannical rule. That's why this season seemed completely useless to me. Kirito should have been pulled out of that world and life would go on and some other series or game would become the next focus of SAO. Instead the story of Alice is crammed down our throats as she, at first, only does mundane tasks such as feeding Kirito and taking him on walks. Not only have we lost Kirito mentally, but we're also forced to watch him in this state for the whole season, which is very disheartening. The story of the underworld is completely useless if not for its tie to the technological developments in the real world. Even if the war of the Underworld was relevant for bigger reasons, the story itself is boring. All 4/10 points for story go to the real life plot points.

Art 10/10 - The art of SAO is beautiful. Perhaps all of my enjoyment from the show is watching the fancy animations of the random large-scale moves by the integrity knights. It is what I expect out of a 2019 anime yet also always amazes me how far animation has come.

Sound 9/10 - SAO has always had a beautiful soundtrack. The brilliancy of the composers still remains heard in this season with another fire ED. The soundtrack during the anime is very good but I don't like the opening compared to other seasons of SAO. There are also callbacks to pieces in the original SAO but in a sad music box tone because Kirito is all screwed up. It's very well done.

Character 3/10 - Asuna and Kirito are characters that seem the most realistic to me out of most anime characters. Sure, people rant on and on about how OP Kirito is but it's more about their personality and interactions that makes SAO so enjoyable for me. Unfortunately, this season threw all of that out the window. The characters in the real world are cool, including the antagonists. Most of the characters in the Underworld are bland and pointless apart from a few Integrity Knights such as Bercouli Synthesis One and Sortiliena Serlut. Although not pointless, none are as bland as Alice. It's ironic because Alice is supposed to be the "best" soul in the Underworld, yet she seems completely robotic and fictional as a person. Her connection is that she grew up a bit with Kirito and Eugeo. That's all that makes her character seem like she should be cared about in any way. She acts as an antagonist for part of the previous season because of mind control antics, but given that a large portion of her life was in these mind control conditions, she still acts robotic and bland. Alice is a character that lacks character. Eugeo would have been a much better and more entertaining fit. This choice of following Alice is the downfall of this season and the biggest reason why it lacks enjoyment.

Enjoyment 5/10 - The art carried this category. Ooooo fancy lights swirling around. Explosions! Eye candy sparkly moves and cool fight scenes. When I stop for a moment to actually think about the importance of these scenes or try to follow the plot I instantly lose enjoyment. You know an anime isn't good when you have to only focus on pretty visuals to have any kind of enjoyment. Or maybe it's enough to satisfy art people out there. Either way this leads me to my overall score.

Overall 4/10 - Bad. Beautiful art and sound cannot overshadow the faults in the story and lack of good characters. I've rated every other SAO a 10/10 (a masterpiece on MAL) yet rated this season a 4. I got to a point where I was considering dropping SAO completely. I can't fathom any positive ratings of this anime, was the art really that pretty? I would give it a 1/10 due to my disappointment in such a brilliant series but I will continue to have hope in this series and in Kirito for his recovery. This season is like being served literal garbage at a restaurant and eating it because hopefully the desert will be good. All of my hope goes to the creators of this series in serving a desert more tasty than ever before.

Imagine a talented handyman, he can raise up a dried-up wasteland into a garden, he can craft all sorts of fun stuff that come in handy in your daily life, he can build houses that eventually dwarf the tallest skyscrapers, now, imagine the skyscraping house gathered a lot of following, becoming way too mainstream and spoken of all over the world, but not every conversation is that of laughs and praise, day by day, controversies are brought, the long-sought masterpiece is mocked, and the talented handyman crumbles.
Sometime later, the handyman sets off on the other project that builds upon the first one, this time, with ... new spins and twist that shuts off every word of hate, this new magnificent craft is related to the other one? Maybe we were too harsh on him, maybe we shouldn't have said all of those negative things about his work, come to think of it, his original work was always good, but this one tops it off and showing his true potential.

That analogy is everything but SAO. The first project is the original series, people decided to hate on it, and to fatten the hate and ignorance, even more, the second season received the same if not a worse treatment, Alicization, in this case, is the second ambitious project that corrects all of the previous entries' faults, that is, until Mr. handyman, Reki Kawahara himself decides to add pieces of pineapples atop for some reason, and everything he built up fell off in an instant like it never even mattered.
Why pineapples? That is very random, yes, just like whatever happened in this season, it's stupid, it's random and very unnecessary.

Here is why...

- Story (6/10):
It's undeniable the effort and dissection thought-out structure that Alicization started off with, very intriguing spin on the whole VR practices that had gone repetitive on the previous entries until it ended off with a satisfying conclusion that's very proud with the cliffhanger it concluded on, leaving us wanting and begging for a continuation, something that really put a lot of pressure on the continuation, it has to be at least as good or else, what does it even matter.

Something I really want to admire this season for bravely doing, and somewhat nailing was the shift from focusing on Kirito as the main motivator for the plot's progression to other lesser characters.
Now, for the frustrating part. What happened to common sense and careful thinking?
Now, SAO has always had some very visible plot holes that honestly do not affect the way the plot runs and is set up as, there are a few things here and there, but this season upped that up a great deal. A great but frustrating example was the whole Soul Translator gear and the exclusivity to the Underworld that makes you wonder if the writer even cares any more. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go on more detail of how exactly that hurt the credibility of this story, but man, did that single-handedly drop this plot from an 8/10 to a rediculous 6/10.
Honestly, despicable.

- Art (8.5/10):
Lately, A1-Picture has been stepping up their game with SAO, and it shows clearly in the couple last seasons. You thought the last season was phenomenally animated, this one is straight-up MAD sakuga compilations at this point, big and hype fights every episode, something that really calls out the talent of the animation team.

- Sound (9/10):
I praised the OST for the first time in Alicization. Did they improve even more or what? Maybe because this one relied on a lot of battle and combat to sellout the plot, that is, a lot of impact shocks, piercings and magic chants to compose, they definitely stick out the most.
Unlike the previous entries, the opening was okay, however, the ending though, definitely the best in the series from what goes from visuals and song. LISA is such a talented individual.

- Character (8/10):
Maybe the selling point of this show. The Kirito boycott if you will.
No, but seriously, to take out the main character of the entire franchise and still have a solid plot that's round-out very well (until the last two episodes that is) goes to show how amazing the side supporting characters are. Not only the human knights but also the Dark Territory soldiers. Every fluctlight individual sold his or her role perfectly, having to empathize with both sides can only be explained by the great character development and good personified writing if anything. It goes to question, would be born on the wrong piece of land make you the bad guy? Are the humans the heroes here because we, the viewers are humans ourselves, and though, it's easier to relate to what's familiar?

- Enjoyment (7.5/10):
My journey with SAO started with that of curiosity, why is this series hated so much, and why is it, despite that, so popular. I have come to compose my own relationship with SAO, a hate and love relationship that's primarily driven from my disappointment. I wanted the franchise to be good because it really had the potential to be amazingly good.
When I first watched Alicization I had a great deal of happiness because finally, this series is being set on the perfect track, but then to see the much-awaited for sequel destroy all of that really hurt the experience, it's not that I hated the season from the get-go, I actually enjoyed it, although not as much as I enjoyed Alicization, it wasn't until the last two episodes when I just couldn't deal with the stupid twists, they really ruined the mood and let me in such severe disappointment.

With that out of the way, this season, or war if you will have some great moments for all sorts of characters from both sides of the conflict. We get to see a lot of their abilities, attitudes, aspirations, it was a great shift from a solo character-focused series to a group of people, each with different goals in life.

- Overall (7.8/10):
I mean, if you're considering watching this, you've already made it through the best, the bad, and the stupid of SAO, 12 more episodes to seal off the series (for now) isn't going to be a bad investment, but it's by no means perfect. It leaves out a lot to be desired, doesn't live up to the hype. Definitely the same SAO though, just more action and stripped out politics.

War of the Underworld is exactly what people mean when they say “Look pretty and do as little as possible.”

There is sakuga in every episode, the artwork is vibrant, and the fight choreography is better than ever. As for the writing, it is hasn’t improved much over Sword Art Online’s previous seasons. Where the narrative shines is its premise: The underworld is a hellish land cloaked in a warm aura radiating from the blood-red sky. Flatter than an ocean, it is a wasteland populated with no vegetation as far as the eye can see. Divided by a valley of stone are humans on one side ... and monsters in the Dark Territory on the other.

In real life where the A.L.I.C.E. simulation is operated, a group of terrorists invade the game; they overthrow an empire of monsters then march them into a war to kill the good guys and Kirito—who is in a vegetative state for the duration of this season. The terrorists enter the game as generals of the monster army, it all plays out like a shlocky imitation of Matrix 3. Once again, the script is overwritten as hell. There are so many buzzwords and names that you’ll need flashcards to keep track of them. Before the titular War begins, every single character who isn’t a CGI soldier gets a close-up with a name tag. About twenty of them were introduced before anyone drew a sword. We only needed the name tags because the setting is so underwritten. With the bare minimum world-building, there is suddenly an all-out war and we’re expected to follow along. There are only two people on either side you have a reason to care about. Alice and a wheel-chair bound potato, and the two bad guys they’re fighting against.

Any moments of self-sacrifice or emotional death ring hollow. Every tearjerker moment felt 100% like emotional manipulation, but I can’t say they made me feel nothing. When the music cuts out, the scene fades to washed-out colors, and all that’s left is a close-up of someone with tears streaming down their faces, it is almost moving. Almost. A cowardly knight got a sad flashback that explained his personality, it should have been sad, but he was so irrelevant that it evoked no emotion. The moment at least made him less one dimensional. However, it’s immediately undercut because he suddenly becomes a fearless badass. And that’s the best character development we’ve got. A few of the knights got half-episodes like that guy; I’ll admit, these moments of introspection paired with an electric guitar riff and breathtaking sakuga were awesome.

A majority of the screen time is dedicated to battles, strategizing on either side, and knights valiantly fighting alone. The best animation comes out during the solo knight battles. The animation is nearly movie quality during these moments. There’s a fair share of CGI during footsoldier combat for filler between the impressive fights. There is at least one spectacular display of sakuga every episode, which is unheard of in a TV anime. This commitment to a visual spectator is what made A-1 Pictures split this season into two cours, a wise decision on their part. It's not every day I find myself praising this problematic studio; with the recent release of Kaguya-sama: Love is War, now this, it’s safe to say they’re on a roll. The directing and writing of this series, unfortunately, falls far below Kaguya-sama. Logic defying fighting, plot holes, mediocre editing, the roller coaster pacing, and an overreliance on name tags. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen this many tags on characters, locations, factions, and times.

One guy throws a punch, another catches it before he hits him—two seconds pass then we get close-ups of their shocked expressions. This probably seems like I’m nitpicking, but when everything in the show is off by a second or two, it makes the action feel slow and disconnected. Both OP/ED in the prior Alicization themes were much better than these ones. The songs are average, both visually and audibly. Lisa and Eir Aoi did much better work on the last season. I’ll also say, the voice acting was great amidst all of the action. The Engrish interspersed in the real-world characters’ dialogue was hilarious.

A vegetative Kirito is hilariously wheeled into the battle in his wheelchair. Right from the first episode, it’s hinted he will wake up when the time is right. Essentially he is a plot device waiting for when Alice is in a pinch. He hangs behind the army, with a constant creepy smirk on his face, while Alice awkwardly hovers above on her dragon as if it’s a damn helicopter. That dragon can kill a horde of monsters like it’s nothing. She is just as overpowered as Kirito. Alice could have been a good character, unfortunately, she is just as flawless as Asuna. Neither of them develops over the course of the season. And being TOO nice isn’t a flaw!! Rather than the main character, she is an extension of Kirito. Just like every other 14-year-old looking girl in this show, she is in love with Kirito. She is motivated by her desire to protect him first, everyone else comes second. While Alice has her own reason having no personality, it doesn't make for a good protagonist. At one point, another knight showed up, a female knight mind you, who wanted to see Kirito so she could “try some things to wake him up” *wink wink nudge nudge. If Alice hadn’t stopped the bitch, she would have given him a good old handy while he was too mentally incapacitated to consent. Alice wouldn’t want another woman putting the moves on her man, obviously. The whole confrontation is disgusting on multiple levels, but it just goes to show Alice’s main purpose in the show is to look pretty and protect her future husband (little does she know he’s engaged).

After not too long, Alice is swept under the rug in favor of a few knights and generals. The rest of her appearances are brief and surface level. In one of her moments alone with the audience, she monologues about the unfairness of the war. Monsters and men have the same souls, and they should not be fighting, so she says; meanwhile, CGI goblins lethargically wave their swords two at even uglier CGI humans in the background. Their swords don’t even come within 4 feet of hitting each other. The “modeled in ten minutes with Blender” aesthetic really adds depth to Alice’s philosophies. To compensate for Alice’s personality (or lack-there-of) more ladies find their way to Kirito as if he’s a magnet. The thing is, Kirito didn’t need to be such a waste of air in this season. He is a prisoner of his own mind, this was a great chance to give us insight into his thoughts. Unfortunately, this was another case of wasted potential by this adaptation.

During the first half of the show, there is a bit too much time spent in the real world (similar to the most frustrating parts of Assassin’s Creed). Everyone in the real world is there to info dump the plot of this season, no characterization at all. I didn’t know one of these guy’s names aside from Asuna. Oh yeah, she is still hovering around Kirito like a fly on shit, telling us how she “won't forgive you!” if anything bad happens to her boyfriend. God, what does a man gotta do to get a female equivalent of a fruit fly bodyguard? Kirito’s rejected women's club also shows up a few times in person to remind us they are still in love. Even the little winged rat Kirito calls his daughter shows up. The two girls who were nearly molested by the villainous guys from last season made an appearance too. Not for any special reason, just to remind us they still existed and they’re still in love. Being trapped in a new game, Kirito’s harem couldn’t come. Even as a potato, our main god himself still gets all the ladies. If this is your thing, no shade, just take this paragraph with a grain of salt. One last thing to add; when every female character (who knows the protagonist firsthand) only talks about their love of a potato, aside from surface-level observations and info-dumping, I consider them poorly written characters.

As for the villains of this season, there are slim pickings. The first bad guy is a comically evil fat dude who calls Alice a witch for trying to evacuate her family’s village. He wants everyone to stay and defend the village because that’s where all his money is. He even says “but I can’t lose my money-I mean I don’t want the village to be destroyed!” The whole altercation is laughably stupid. Of course, Alice gets them to leave, cue the monster stampede. After that episode, we never hear from him again. Then the true antagonist makes his appearance. The blonde-haired terrorist bastard. This guy is so bad I wished for the first one to come back. The leader of the terrorists is a psychopath who has been killing people since he was a child. The murders of an adorable little girl a beautiful woman in lingerie are shown with creepy detail. In a show about kids fighting off anthropomorphic animals and goblins, gross exploitation for shock factor feels so out of place. You could argue this is ‘character development’ because we need to know the bad guy is Very Evil, even though he’s barely in the show. I’d say his personality was conveyed sufficiently by displaying a woman’s severed head the foot of his throne. Not to mention, the main ‘antagonist’ is barely in the show. Another evil general I want to mention is a woman wearing only ribbons and a cape like a dominatrix. She is Very Evil too. When she kills people she gropes herself and moans. Very depraved. Very necessary character development.

Quinella—the antagonist of the previous season—appears as a ‘devil on your shoulder’ type of villain. In dreamlike flashbacks, she speaks to the knight’s inner insecurities and desires. Her voice is accompanied by an ominous flute as well as a piano, both playing a low methodical tune. Quinella's scenes are enrapturing. She drew the knights, and me, into her eerie world. These moments were some of the best in the show. Sakuga aside, there were a few other highlights in this season.

Sword Art Online has never looked better than War of the Underworld; the sakuga is amazing. As for the writing, it is still lackluster at best. A few slightly relevant knights got a modicum of character development. More time should have been spent developing, you know, Alice or Asuna. It’s worth noting that I’ve been told this adaptation butchered the pacing of the source material. If the premise/characters do interest you I would recommend seeking out the novel. A bevy of flaws aside, War of the Underworld surprised me.

Does it live up to the hype? No.
Is it the best season Sword Art Online? In my opinion, yes.

uh boy what a dumpster fire. I realize that's not the best way to star this, but it really let me down, I really wanted to like this, I loved alicization and I was ready to love this as well, and the beginning led me to believe that, that would be the case, but it wasn't.
Let's start with the beginning, because the this season had a really good start, kirito wasn't around much and the show choose to focus on other characters, alice had a pretty good arc on the first episodes. The integrity knights had more screen time which make me really happy because ... I liked them a lot in part 1. Some of them get extra development, the show also added new integrity knights like scheta and renly who were both freaking amazing, and probably some of the best characters in sao. Sure the villain was another villain who was evil just because he was crazy, but he was really interesting, and the rest of the characters in the dark territory had a lot of potential to be great villains. Definitly the best one was Ishkan, the relationship he forms with scheta although a bit rushed at the end, was really good.
But then we arrive at the second half of the season and it lost literally every sense imaginable, I won't spoil what happens, but let me tell you I was constantly saying WTF every episode at least twice because of how little sense everything had. There was even a point where I started laughing of how stupid something was. Which is specially a shame because during some of the most dramatic moments of the show I couldn't get invested because I was questioning everything going on.
Another big problem with the show is that everyone starts treating kirito like a god and he, once again, is overpowered, and it makes even less sense than the last time which is saying something. I thougt we were over this, everyone talks about him like he's the best thing in the world to a point where is ridiculous, which really hurts because in the last season it seemed that they learned their lesson with him making him more grounded, here he's back to being the best thing ever. The villain had barely any screen time, the dark territory characters and the posibility of creating simpathetic and interesting villains was wasted. The only good thing about the story on the second half was Poh, who was in all honesty a pretty interesting villain, although the show didn't took advantage of it's full potential.
As for the animation and sound is awesome, I mean is sao. There are 3 fight scenes with some spectacular animation, where sao really outdid itself. The only problem once again is that, out of those 3 fight scenes, I only liked one, because in the other 2 there was an endless pit of nonsense.
Overall this season was a bigger disapointment than the first season which is saying something. And look I'm not one of those sao haters like digibro and mother's basement. I wanted to like this season, I thougt that sao became awesome after alicization part one, but I just can't like a season which so much nonsense and wasted potential

In a series plagued with issues, War of the Underworld feels like no exception. However, much like most of Sword Art Online, I would argue there's enough compelling ideas and production quality to carry through and be an enjoyable time. However... take this for what you will, but, I think this is the least remarkable season of SAO, both in terms of negatives and positives.


Essentially removing the protagonist for a season is a bold choice. It paid off in spades the last time SAO did it (Mother's Rosario), but this time... meh. Problem is, the only particularly compelling new character in Alicization was Eugeo, who ... got tossed aside in favour of the newest member of Kirito's harem, Alice.

In the last season, Alice started off as generic tsundere but at least had some decent character growth, and the premise of her character having no memories of her former life had some potential to work with (the old Alice/Alice Zuberg essentially being dead). This is more or less glossed over, as we're presented with Alice being close to her sister Selka now in a static relationship and barely interacting with anyone else from the village. There's some vague pretense of subplots of her self-worth, or her desire to fight, or the morality of the war, but none of these things get remotely touched on and Alice just stays static throughout this entire season. She's strong, fights for the side of good, cares for her friends, and has fallen badly for Kirito (because of course she has).

In other words, she's not a very interesting character, and the beginning of the show isn't very interesting because of this. And there lies the biggest issue with this arc. Without either protagonist from last season being around, the only characters left to work with in the Underworld are entirely new or very simple characters from last season (Asuna eventually shows up, at least). The show feels the need to flash a minute of exposition on the names of every Integrity Knight or enemy leader before the start of the titular war because it knows half of these characters haven't really existed. This is like, halfway through the season for reference, at that. Surprisingly, from this point forward every one of them serves some noteworthy purpose (although admittedly, the villains are mostly there to antagonize for a few minutes before dying). The show is able to pick here, being able to tell a lot of short stories about these characters and their battles, backstories, motivations etc while having entertaining action and eye candy visuals, but there's still only so much you can do with whomever fighting for 5-10 minutes, and it has to find ways to invest us in all of them in that time. I was pleasantly surprised with how much they were able to get out of this, but it still feels pretty shallow.


In terms of villains... I mean come on, Sword Art Online has never been good at writing particularly deep or nuanced villains (remember Kayaba's thrilling motivations?). If there's one thing it can do, it's create creepy bastards you just want to punch, and usually excessively creepy ones at that. We don't quite delve into rape scenes (emphasis on don't quite), at least.

We do eat souls. No, really, the main villain's thing is he eats souls. Preferably innocent ones. And he wants to eat Alice's soul, but he's also contracted by the NSA to bring them back Alice so who knows where that's going. Hysterical laughter occurred over this guy multiple times; he's frankly too edgy to take seriously.


The plot generally works, although it's mostly just very straightforward. However, there were a few moments I couldn't take seriously this season (Mostly aforementioned primary antagonist and his soul fetish).

For starters, the show doesn't play any pretense around the fact that Kirito's going to show up and save the day whenever they really need it, and even discusses this multiple times. I can't tell if they're acknowledging the absurdity of the Kirito harem at this point with the part where Asuna and his 3 Underworld girls gather to swap stories about him, but it's certainly a reminder. And of course, Kirito manages to... cure an Integrity Knight's PTSD by clenching his fist while comatose, because of course he does.

There's also the part where Asuna has cell service and Kikuoka and the rest have the ability to make phone calls and yet this isn't useful to deal with the hijackers/contact the fleet around the Ocean Turtle because... ???

Then there's the last two episodes. Sigh. I won't spoil things, but it mostly breaks the tension built throughout the war by drastically changing the situation while also making little sense on a number of levels. Wouldn't be Sword Art Online if we didn't pull some deus ex machina at the ending of every arc (exception of Mother's Rosario). And yes, I know this is technically halfway through an arc, but the problem remains the same.


I only have one major complaint about the production quality. Sword Art Online's always been pretty high quality there, and the same visual improvements Alicization showed are found here. Yuki Kajiura is among the best in the business, so the OST is still very good... except for one thing.

The directing is... off. I noticed it somewhat in Alicization, but it really stood out to me here. There are a lot of moments where the tone abruptly changes or feels off because a sad or happy song is randomly played immediately after an intense moment. There's one point where it builds up the start of the war to be all dark and intense for a few minutes, and just as the tension is sinking in and the fight begins, we get the upbeat OP.

While there's nothing wrong with any of the songs (in fact they're quite good and generally convey emotions well), there were several points the show just feels jarring because of this. There's also a couple god-awfully obnoxious sound effects (I'm looking at you last two episodes).


Overall, I'd say if you still have it in your heart to enjoy SAO, this season is passable. I went in with low expectations, and had a good time (although at points it definitely felt like laughing at the show). Nothing particularly standout about it, and it certainly still has flaws, but once the ball gets rolling it mostly stays rolling.


Okay, and Lisbeth makes a speech that descends into 'gamers rise up' and it's hysterical. No, really.

SAO Alicization - War of the Underworld. To be brief - utter trash. It continues the boring, contrived plot of the previous season, but with a twist - Kirito is kind of... not there mentally. Literally. He's lost all the personality he never had. It's not a particularly noticeable difference, though it does affect the general writing. There's a bigger focus on characters here and, ugh... SAO is not very well-known for its well-written characters. I could not give a single shit for anyone, as per usual, so this big battle arc was just boring as all hell. There were some fun enough to watch ... over the top battle moments, the animation has improved over last season, which had some weaker spots. The music is decent enough. Everything else is just, well, shit. It was torture to watch this series showcase how badly it can execute excruating anime tropes, this time outdoing itself with one very special case of Engrish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCMTyCUHy8U).

Spoiler-less, TL;DR, fast, simple, and easy-to-digest review:

War, War never changes..., or does it?

5/10

Animation? Good (++)
While they maintained the animation quality from the previous season (which is top notch in the series btw), there are some... budget cuts. Animation downgraded a bit by relying on sone 2.5 D elements and same animation of multiple soldiers in a huge battlefield. IK its hard to animate this by hand but can you make it not noticeable?

Characters? Ok (+)
... Same as previous season but with new decent characters, friends and foes. (Plz give more love to Klein like cmon! its not that hard!)

Story? Meh (-)
I feel like the story cannot stand alone. After watching the entire thing to the end, I had to watch the first episode of the next season immediately. This is supposed to be the payoff for the previous season, but just like AAA developers (I'm talking to you Destiny and WoW), they drip-fed us the content.

Pacing? Ok (+)
First time in the series, SAO finally got the pacing department a rating above meh. I give them props to not drag the story any longer. While it was still a slow burn, at least it was consistent, and they intensified the pacing speed as they progressed. I hope the next season will do the same.

OST? Ok (+)
Get the war drums and horns! We go to WAAAAARRRRR!!!

Enjoyability? Meh (-)
Like I said in story cirteria, this show cannot stand alone and need the next season to be watched. There, I could give my true veridct.

SAO : Alicization - War of Underworld. First review on MAL, so much to review.

Okay this is an incredibly series in my personal & honest option & here's why it is. The evolution from the very first season is noticeable & how it's progressed is wonderful. We have og characters & new characters that are part of the current season.

Alicization does a great job on it's production value & it can be seen from season 3. The quality of the animation is beautiful and vibrant, character design is top tier, environment is captivating & the sound oh don't get me started on that, it is ... just great to hear. These are the foundations that set SAO Alicization on it's way.

Okay here is what I appreciate about SAO Alicization. The new characters are incredible & work well with the setting of the project. They have such depth in them, their personalities, sense of life, perspectives & how they interact with one another. Alice, Bercouli, Eldrie(has a boss moment) to name a few. Kirito & Eugeo have a friendship that is worthwhile in anime that I like, I found annoying parts in the season that bother me in regard to the story or setting, you know cause how deep I dive into it. The antagonist really is dry af & not captivating. I have seen many antagonists in anime that bring a point to the anime but not Gabriel, no sir, just a plain psychopath like Quinella(boring & uninspired) they are just the for driving the characters with their self centered ideals & logic.

The fight are amazing & meaningful between both sides and they do an incredible job depicting how some people are just annoying & insufferable from SAO & life & the value of having a conscious.

SAO is worthwhile anime & that is way it is still here, I stan it, even through the oversaturated hate, which is okay alright, you don't like, okay then. Kiritio is among best anime Mc's, he's a vibe. Asuna & Alice are Waifu's af. Peace, I think this is an okay not bad first review, yeah. Peace.

If you are one of SAO haters for no reason, don't bother with this review, not your cup of tea.

[Introduction]
The only thing that I don't understand is "the hate" of SAO series without any valid reason, like seriously? grow up already, I'm an old fan of SAO since first episode released back then on 2012, yes I still remember watching these aired episodes like it was yesterday, back then I was watching Naruto Shippuden only, but what makes me captivated is no other than SAO. I started watching other anime series because of it and learned the true meaning of "Don't judge a book by ... its cover" although SAO haters will always hate it no matter what.

[Summary]
Story 10/10
Art 10/10
Sound 9/10
Character 9/10
Enjoyment 10/10
Overall 9/10

Alicization War of Underworld is the sequel of Alicization and by far the best work of Reki Kawahara (Author) what makes this season really mesmerizing:

[Story 10/10]:
I'm not a fan of LN in general and I didn't read it, but I can say for sure that I didn't expect it to take this turn of events (speaking of Alicization S1 not S2) so after watching first season I expected it to be more action based, but I never expected it to get so thrilling, as kirito get incapacitated at the end of Alicization S1, making Alice left between fighting the dark forces of the the underworld as a knight and staying with kirito protecting him as a woman.

[Art 10/10]:
Art is stunning as well the scenes and terrain are highly detailed which make it more realistic and more enjoyable to watch. A-1 Pictures studio always produce S quality but this time they really go all out, enhancing the art style and movement to the point where you don't know where to look making you pausing video several times to breath and catch on repeating several times magnificent scenes to bury it on your mind (I watched it on big screen with 1080p x265 10bit quality so I was satisfied with the quality)

[Sound 9/10]
Just listening to the OP theme song is getting me excited, and for the ED, Lisa theme song is breathtaking (as expected, new SAO season = new Lisa song) a part of the popular SAO anime is definitely Lisa songs. The Sound system and effects are well produced and synchronized with each character talking, moving, especially the sound effects of activated skills are top notch making the watcher to focus even more on episode.

[Character 9/10]
Introducing new characters of the dark underworld, including generals of the dark empire, and new on screen time human generals knights of order (most of them are charming women lel) each character has it own role, feeling, expression that could even make you attached to it through the development of events.

[Enjoyment 10/10]
Hey it's SAO we are talking about, of course I fully enjoy it, (even though you are probably a hater reading my review, at least give it a try without judging, Anime studio staffs work their ass off to create high quality anime for people to watch and enjoy not to judge and insult) if you are a fan of RPG games you would surely appreciate SAO Anime/Games franchise, totally enjoyable and feel like every episode were like 5 minutes, never get enough from watching new seasons of SAO, truly a bless.

[Overall 9/10]
Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld is the best anime of this season (Fall 2019) so far, and probably the great season of SAO franchise. I strongly recommend it even for SAO haters, peace!


PS: this is my first review, so I might have typos or errors, I watch anime since 2006 and I have watched over than 900 anime series through these years but I felt making this review since I saw a lot of negative reviews and hate for SAO franchise, I know most of western love to hate SAO series but at least give it a try, if not, then don't give it negative reviews in the first place, SAO is not for anyone, I'm sure haters hate it because they don't understand it's greatness.

Now SAO has become that anime that people agree to dislike. It has a generic story, a bland main character, and horrible main villians. Most people either continued out of nostalgia or more ways to poke fun of the story. Each season brought a whole new slew of complaints. However, watching this new season mind was blown by the quality of this season, and I believe that it has maybe redeemed itself altogether.


Story 10/10
Sword art online has always been a story based light novel, as the goals were always concrete and we watched these relatively boring characters follow through these things. Each time the buildup, ... weather it was conquering all 100 levels in a death game, rescuing someone in a ripoff version where they cannot log out, fight a killer in a gun game who had the ability to also kill in real life, or rescue a friend from the god of the universe, was amazing, but the end result always was lackluster. Time and time again they were rushed timeskipped, and cheapened to oblivion, to where it could easily be dismissed as a bad show that was a huge disappointment. However, for the first time, that is not the case.


The story of Alicization: WOU is the 10 episode war that takes place in the world of Alicization. With amazing pacing, great character development, and a constant struggle to protect the life of a single person, the story follows not the Mary sue himself Kirito, but the people of the artificial world, humanizing and crafting an incredibly engaging and flowing story. These people are far more interesting, and combining development on both sides for once, sword art online creates characters that we feel a connection to, no matter how little they are. And while the developments are ones that have been done before in a multitude of characters, they feel personal enough and create a war arc that leaves a long lasting impact on you. With constant stakes and only one SAO deux ex Machina(Near the beginning, not as the ending thank goodness) SAO finally lives up to the hype surrounding the Alicization war arc.


Art 8/10
Now the animation so far has been gorgeous. A1 pictures has done an astounding job with this season, blowing my expectations out of the water. Comparing this to the first season, you see that they have upped their game completely. The bright and diversely coloured world is amazing, and you feel drawn into it.


As this is a adapted from a light novel, the studio has a large creative control with the actual art design. So they mostly decide what the powers will look like, how the world and pictures painted on the page will go. Now normally the product is below the source material as the detail and the design is not replicated in the final product. However, while I have not read the books, I have to say that the abilities, fights and the world was choreographed amazingly. Each ability was unique in its design, and they weren’t constantly using similar visual effects. I have already spoken about the world, but the thing I want to focus on the most is the fights.


Now, with a name of sword art online, you would expect to have some intense sword fights. However, the first couple of seasons did not deliver. Most of the times it was a couple of swords swipes, and then they locked swords pushing most of the time. SAO was also a disappointment in that subject, but this season quickly flipped that on its head. The fight have evolved completely, with amazing swordplay, and strikes. With intermittent sword strikes and sword abilities, it lives up to its name in the animation. Not to mention the hard line contrast. Like FMA did with king bradley, the bright and soft lines would go hard and straight in some of these fights, making the bright and soft ascetic looking hard and tense.


The only thing to complain about is the use of CG. As this is a war, there are hundreds and thousands of people on the screen so there is quite a bit of CG used. However, there are enough people drawn so that it isn’t every single soldier.

Sound 10/10

Never ever has the sounds been so good particularly the unique sounds. The sword sounds are different, and you hear the clanks of metal as they hit. Each recollection release gets its own sound that both fits the actual ability and is unique. Especially Asuna’s full choir she get when she activates her abilities. Paired with the amazing animation, the sound design for the fights could only be described as amazing and hype.


The music like usual was amazing, but more importantly the direction and where it was placed. Instead of blasting crossing void or the boss music for the billionth time(Which I still wouldn’t mind) it showcases a large variety of tracts placing them perfectly. It slowly nudges in the quiet parts, and blares in the tense battles. The score is one of the best I have seen, and I can listen to it on repeat.


Character 8/10
Now SAO is notorious for a couple things. The harem situation, and the lack of good written characters are common complaints and I agree. The villains are usually terrible antagonists who don’t have a cent of logic, and it is clear who you should be rooting for. Boy have things changed.


The story focuses on four groups in this arc, The integrity knights, Quinella(the evil queen) the pugilists, and Alice.


Now in the first season the integrity knights seem pretty shallow, and it makes sense. They are mindless puppets controlled by Quinella(administrator),and they are hardly fleshed out. They have unique powers, but they are hardly elaborated on and Based off the Alicization arc you can assume that they won’t return again. They are simply just steps up the tower to the top. But that changes. With the threat of the invasion all the other integrity knights through the kingdom are called on to protect the kingdom. It is through this and the battles that they question their loyalties and are forced to step up and fight the fight.


What is more fascinating is how we learn about them. And this is when the previously bad villian Administrator comes up.


Now based off the first season Quinella seemed like a power hungry fool. She felt like a villain who wanted to be in absolute control. With very little backstory I though that she was a letdown, as I was hoping for a good villain. But the author actually develops her through these crucial flashback conversations.


In these flashback conversations we learn quite a lot. She was close to each of her subjects and fitted each of them individually. Now after watching this, she isn’t a better villain, but our view of her shifts, and she seems more humans and close to her subject. She had picks each sacred weapon due to the person, choosing one that would both suit their style and their personality. These weapons are designed specifically for each character as they reflect each character they are and how she wants them to improve.


Though these conversations are small, combined with the powers of their weapons and their fighting style are many small hints that reflect their characters and who they become. An older knight is given a sword that could reverse time so that even though he is too far ahead, he can still help the younger generation. A emotionally stagnant knight who loves fighting gets her sword sealed and paper thin, changing her style to a minimalistic approach, making her methods more contained. Those two and many other have these mini arcs, creating some great characters, with some an amazing clashes of ideologies.


Now the development is two sided. With many different races that are combined each parallel the other perfectly. And that is why I like the pugilists. Now they have a very unorthodox fighting style which is based of their fighting spirit. Literally. They convert it into both physical enhancements and these fighting flames, that are based on their “spirit” it measure their power. The leader who thinks for himself, is a great character, pushing himself on and on for his group. He has an amazing fight with the previously emotionally stagnant knight that really made me think “this is a 10/10.”


Now of course this doesn’t apply to every moving piece in the war. There are plenty of characters who don’t have any development, but what this does is really chose enough characters to develop, while not wasting out time with the backstories of a million characters.


And by no means I am saying they are my favorite characters, and they probably still aren’t even close. But the season was cast focused and really developed some great characters. Alice, who wasn’t even a viable option, is now a completely viable option (one of the best in fiction). With so many quotable lines, and a special outlook in the war based off her position, she completely develops into a great character. Again not top 5 but she is up there. I feel like the cast has grown completely and has some great characters.


Enjoyment 10/10
Parred with amazing animation, sound, characters, story and fights, this season was what sword art online should have always been. The tension felt real, and it wasn’t obvious that the good guys were going to win. There were times I genuinely thought that the villians would win. And there were plenty of characters who died, and very little plot armor around. The season really redeemed SAO, and It is amazing(aside from one Harem scene).


Overall 9/10
The war really felt like a war, and there were many mind drop moments. The author improved his story telling quite a bit of way, and although there were a couple instances of bad writing, mostly in the first half, they eventually dimmer down, and you can’t help but enjoy the show. (Also Alice is a viable option. Fight me)

This is a story about a simple gamer boy who finds himself to be one of the key persons who will heavily influence the future of Virtual Reality.

This anime arc is one of the few series where the spotlight will be swapped to a supporting character because of the plot and I find it very entertaining and great and it's not just some Isekai anime that we currently watch ourselves. If you want to watch this then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

In this arc, the new villain is sure evil from his backstory to his present goal and ego which makes you kinda admire and hate ... him at the same time because of his intentions to the main characters. While the protagonist on the other hand was swapped from Kirito to Alice because she is the key character of this arc which makes it like a refresh.

P.S. Do not hate this anime because of its reviews, sure it has some bad character writings or arcs but it sure as hell fun especially if you're a gamer yourself.

The last episode is coming out next week, and I have to say WTF? Let's see where SAO started and where it is now. SAO's first season was a psychological thriller about being trapped in a video game where you can murder a player who will die in real life. Now, everyone has nonsensical god-like power from out of nowhere and dead people are coming back to life in another video game. All of which is for a giant world peace circle jerk of a battle. I literally through up as all the people of underworld (from both sides of the conflict of the war), ... came together to pray for Kirito to win. This season is nonsensical and takes you from psychological thriller to heart warming world peace (video game world peace I might add). F the writer who F'ed up one of my favorite animes. I don't know which was worse, this or season 8 of game of thrones.

Oh, and BTW... if you are going to voice American's speaking english, then why not just get an American voice actor to do it? You have Japanese actors, speaking in a heavy Japanese accent, voicing as Americans. That was just awful.

Alicization did great job setting up the world, its rules, and conflicts despite a rather shaky second half so it pains me that War of Underworld failed to follow-up on that setup. I went into Alicization skeptical, but enjoying the first half before being let down by the second half, and had hoped that War of the Underworld would at least make use of the setup and redeem the show, but awkward pacing, an identity crisis, and shallow storytelling disappointed me greatly.

I imagine the novels for this series were a lot more in-depth (to the point where I had to read discussion threads to understand ... the point of certain scenes) but the anime suffers from terrible pacing problems and nonsense moments because there's times where they overexplain some details and it just bores me to death, but there's other times where scenes seem pointless or straight up break the established rules from prior episodes just because they don't explain it at all.

The show looks good but it relies on too many flashy effects for the airing so the practice of dimming adversely affected my enjoyment of the fight scenes more than other anime, and I feel like at this point, designing scenes to work around that limitation should be a standard. I love the soundtrack for the show, but it's way too repetitive, you hear the same tracks over and over again, many of which are being re-used from Alicization which gets tiring after a while.

Adding onto the pacing problems is wasting time on the introduction of many new and returning characters who don't really matter in the grand scheme of things and the show already has a bad reputation for neglecting its past characters. These characters barely get a mention, about an episode or two of backstory that we're expected to feel something about before they're tossed off as set pieces once again. There are too many characters in this show at this point, the show spreads itself too thin and needs to refocus on its past characters.

The show also suffers from trying to dip into too many different moods and lacks the ability to tell story with a consistent theme/mood as a result. It tries to take itself way too seriously at times with way too forward dialogue (show don't tell), but other times it borders on slice of life/harem territory. Some people might like it because it changes up the pace of the show, I personally hated it because I felt like the slice of life moments didn't really contribute much to the show and just held back the plot.

However, many SAO fans don't mind these negatives I mentioned or maybe they're LN readers excited for the adaptation. I feel that the studio is primarily catering to their fans at this point regardless of whether the anime turns out to be good or bad, because I notice that SAO's strong points like a diverse cast, world building, and showing off flashy powers, got stronger while its weak points like shallow storytelling, pacing problems, and bad characterization also got more exacerbated.

So if you enjoyed the rest of SAO I'd imagine you'd love this show, but if you were on the fence or leaning towards negative before, this show exemplifies a lot of SAO's problems.

Just when we were so tired of the story of this show, it did make an excellent execution this time. The war between the human empire and the dark territory was just a front and a surface to the real war that is happening in the real world. This season brought war between nations into a game in order to attain a goal.

The war of underworld is the best story next to the game of sword art online. It had great impact to us viewers because it should not be taken lightly. Kirito may be out of the action at the moment but it ... is what gave chance for the others to shine in ways that we do not expect them to. Everything that happens inside the game can affect the world, especially U.S. and Japan. Within the span of 12 episodes, the focus really was on the war and the battles that took place in it, so the title really made up for the plot. Like SAO, the dramas and issues are not enclosed to Asuna or Kirito, but to a lot of people and lives that could be greatly affected. All the previous games that were mediocrely done can now be seen as a build-up for this great war.

The characters are also likeable. mostly the integrity knights and some leaders of the dark territory. We thought that the integrity knights are just people who blindly obey the pontifex and people who are put in order for Kirito and Eugeo to have battle with, however, they are noble knights who want peace and security that they may live without being constrained to do what they want. Alice, Bercoulli, Asuna and the gang stepped up this season without Kirito's helping hand, which is a totally magnificent development for all the show's characters.

The animation was superb. It left me in awe and excitement because of how unexpected the wonderful fights scenes came up. Although it was quick, it was also satisfying.

I gave an 8 because the season left us hanging and it should have been longer, although we know that it has a continuation. The harem is still constantly shown and it is one of the things the fans dislike. Asuna and Alice would suffice the harem club but small shot girls are irritatingly joining the bandwagon, and it sucks. A 9 could be possible if the season continued, sadly, I can only review containing the episodes that are included this season and no more than that.

this one of the kind most garbage story i ever see

warning little contain spoiler*

Story. 1
ai vs ai, wipe by single strike from "good guy ai(whatever this author want)" so hilarious

but the most anoying part is when players join the game then that ai one slicing all human player like human is the garbage ai, as a gamers this shit so piss me off
dear author you have fucking zero chance win if u fight horde or gamers they not bunch of noob who will stay and waiting you to cut them like how ai usualy does, dont use your clicker hero game as refrence to make ... morpg story

slow phase and to much talking in battle so fucking anoying, as i know they just yelling haaa haa haa then battle over because they wipe out by single "good guy" ai

out number by bad guy ai then wipe them like step on cockroach, not single good guy ai die there, need fucking ton effort from bad guy ai just to kill 1 single fucking "good guy" ai, after he die they took revenge like they never kill single "bad guy' ai in first place

Art. 7
i never complain when talking about the art in sao, they seemed to be working hard on it

Sound. 8
good as always

Character. 1
dont ask, i put alot word to describe them in story how garbage they are

Enjoyment. 3
if is not because this anime has good art and sound i just rate 1 instead of 3

Building off of the previous season, Alicization - War of Underworld tells a story just as good, possibly better, than Alicization. One of the major reasons why this season is good is that we actually see other characters display how powerful they can be, all because of one reason : Kirito is not the centre of attention anymore.

Alice is a great character to witness the story from the point of view of : she is largely unbiased in her opinion towards Kirito apart from the fact that, for her, he is a childhood friend, and nothing more. She herself is a great warrior, but ... remains within the limits set by the universe, something the first two seasons quite obviously struggled with.

The constant switch between Underworld and the Real World provides a vastly improved narrative. The quality remains similar to past seasons : there is nothing one can point out as necessarily bad.

Amazing, isn't it? Somehow this new season of Sword Art Online was supposed to be the season where SaO finally became good again. I was seriously hopeful, yet it managed to not just let me down, but make me watch 12 episodes of pure brain torture. Never in my life have I forced myself through an anime which I didn't like, and never in my life have I felt so completely let down and honestly angry at how terrible the writing could be from what is supposed to be one of the most anticipated shows ever.

Spoilers all the way through.

I'll start with some good. The ... sound effects within the Underworld are surprisingly cool. Whenever Sword Skills are used you're met with this interesting electronic glitchy bass-boosted sound effect, and honestly? I was seriously impressed. It gave the visual effects more power for sure. The ending song by LiSa of course was a complete banger, but I can't expect much else from her.

The art of course has always been great when it comes to SaO. I do however have to say that there was absolutely nothing truly interesting about it. It kind of seemed like they dumbed down a lot from the previous seasons. This is not how I remember SaO, the art seemed too lazy for this.

The only character I actually really loved in this one is the leader of the pugilist's guild. I honestly have high hopes for him in part 2, and really feel like he could play an impactful role. However, I'm not convinced that he will live through the first few episodes. I wouldnt even be surprised if they mercilessly killed him off early on.

Anyway, that's all the good I'm even willing to write, onto the bad. I think the worst part of the season was the incredibly horrid writing of characters. Never again was I so furious at the decisions made by major characters and their emotional ways of reaching their goals, I even wrote a word document where I allowed myself to rant over dumb decisions made by characters.

Through the entire season the writing was already very sub-par. I think we can all agree that the Kirito harem is fun and all, but just becomes an incredible annoyance throughout the season (cough cough episode 5). However, where it truly all went down the gutter for me was in Episode 7.

In terms of worldbuilding, we've learned that the people of the human realm are unable to murder other humans due to the rules of the pontifex.. which Asuna somehow later instantly assumes to be work from a mole in Rath, which makes absolutely no sense but we'll get to that later.

So, from this we know that Alice is not a murderer of humans. Throughout the arc we even see her turn from a cold integrity knight to a girl with love and empathy. Before she is able to create a nuke of souls, she monologues about how terrible war really is, as she discovers that all the souls of the people from the dark territory are just like their own. It's almost like she's starting to build sympathy for the people in the dark territory, since they're all just like her.

However, this is INSTANTLY thrown out of the window when Alice suddenly is able to commit GENOCIDE by wiping out hundreds of mages, all with human-like attributes. Slaying goblins I could understand, but she's literally killing hundreds of her own kind while they're screaming of pain from the burns. How is she able to mentally handle this, and how are there no lingering effects of having committed such an insane war crime?

It's unrealistic character building and extremely frustrating to see how there's an insane lack of depth in the character's and their actions. Nothing they do have consequences. Hearing her annoying apprentice suddenly coming out to then talk about his regrets of not doing his duty and all that is just extremely unrealistic. Yes, it's a fantasy world, but that doesn't mean the characters should have the emotional depth of a bloody children's bath.

The war as well seems extremely onesided. Every threat is completely nullified by minimal actions of a single person. When the dark territory mages create a huge nuke to try and take down Alice, it's COMPLETELY nullified when mister apprentice comes in after he has already flagged his death multiple times. The fact that the dark territory was RELYING ON THIS BOMB to win the entire war from the start and it being nullified by a single minor character is extremely stupid. Suddenly the entire dark territory is not even a threat anymore.

One integrity knight is able to stop the advance of an entire pugilist's guild as well, how does this happen? Why are the small stupid vanguard goblins more of a threat to humanity than the MAIN FORCES of the dark territory? It creates an atmosphere where you never fear for the life of a protagonist, because you know how weak the dark territory really is.

It's also hilarious that even though this dark territory was considered an insane threat over hundreds of years and that their invasion would mean the downfall of humanity, a SEVERELY reduced group of integrity knights WITHOUT the pontifex were enough to win the war, even though their tactical choices were terrible (from both sides of course, but why the hell are the integrity knights and Alice entering the dark territory when there is no conceivable rush to counterattack? They could've just waited for the dark territory to kill themselves again walking into the canyon).

Then there's all kinds of dumb moments that just make me laugh out loud. Not because of the good humor, but because of how ridiculous they are. Like how Asuna decides to jump inside of a meteor crater with her horse, which is stupid already, but then we see the carriages have safely made it down a 5 meter drop as well somehow. I have never seen a horse jump with carriages, but I'm not expert I guess.

Or when Asuna activates her ability and stands there like a soulless child mage while there's an entire choir that sounds NOTHING like her singing some kind of heavenly christian song. It's not that it's unrealistic or anything, it just looked stupid.

The troops of the dark territory are laughable. Why are all the piggy troops suddenly COMPLETELY fine with being EXECUTED, and how is there only ONE piggy that even remotely questions the morals of the sacrifice? I haven't even mentioned how the antagonists are some really depthless cold shits. The main antagonist is apparently some genius commander in gun gale online, but isn't even able to manage simple tactics in the underworld. It's like he lost all his brain in the dive, it's incredibly stupid.

Also, the way he was able to just swoop in on a big old dragon and take Alice away within the span of 5 seconds is so anticlimactic. How Alice allows this to happen so easily is beyond me. The main antagonist makes it look so easy I wonder if Alice secretly has Stockholm Syndrome and a fetish for brainless antagonists.

Anyway, all emotional cry moments are extremely hard to relate to. I haven't felt bad for a single character other than the pugilist's guild's leader.

The way the writers solve problems is also really disgusting. There's a very simple way to write SaO scenes. Start by creating a sudden and out of nowhere problem, have someone fix it with some weird ass technique you've never seen before, then create a flashback to when this someone was taught this technique that's somehow PERFECTLY made for the situation.

Example: Pugilist guild is running at Alice and Co. They suddenly THEN realise that there's no way to handle them, since using arts is impossible without natural resources, and their swords apparently literally can't cut through a pugilist's skin since they're trained for it. Bam, suddenly there's an integrity knight who start slashing through pugilists like their skin is made of paper. Flashback to the past, where the Pontifex gives said knight a sword that can supposedly "cut through anything". Oddly convenient, isn't it?

It's almost like they forget about the problem and suddenly think of a solution even though it doesn't fit at all. The story goes from problem to problem and solution to solution. There is only 1 problem that keeps popping up and that's the problem of what's going on in the outside world, where there is pretty much no direct development happening.

Next up are the extremely dumb moments concerning the American red troops. They come in and expect it's a game and all, but they don't know they're cutting down "actual human beings", which SUDDENLY BECOMES A PROBLEM AGAIN even though we saw a couple episodes ago that it's TOTALLY FINE to commit genocide when it's convenient for the plot. Also, one of the main issues for the Japanese to not log in in the final episode is that the pain suppression is off in the Underworld, but this is totally forgotten when the Americans WILLINGLY go and log back into the realm even though they probably experienced the horrific pains of being sliced into pieces by sharp bloody swords.

I don't know, Sword Art Online is a complete mess of writing where I only come for the action scenes, because that's all they've got going for them. You literally have to turn off your brain to be able to even remotely enjoy this, but for me that's just simply impossible. The characters' motivations are laughable and their decisions unrealistic, there's more plot holes than actual story, and we didn't even get to see Kirito being badass.

Great job wasting my time SaO, 2/10.